In recent years, it has become common for home owners to add outdoor lighting systems to areas surrounding or extending from their residences. Many home owners use outdoor lighting systems to provide illumination of footpaths leading from entrances. Other home owners use a set of outdoor lights to mark driveways. Still other home owners use outdoor lighting to provide a unique effect in a flower bed or near shrubs. And still others use outdoor lighting to border a patio or an outdoor living space.
The outdoor lighting products that most are familiar to homeowners include a set of low voltage lights wherein each low voltage light is enclosed within a decorative housing, a transformer which reduces the voltage of house current to the level of the of the low voltage bulbs in each fixture, and a power cord extending from the transformer to each of the individual outdoor lights. The power cord is generally buried in the soil between each light fixture.
In some new sets of outdoor lighting products a single solar panel assembly is used to gather light energy during daylight hours and transform the light energy into electrical energy. The electrical energy is stored in a battery until needed typically during the early evening hours. When desired, the stored electrical energy is directed from the battery to the individual outdoor lights using a power cord.
To provide maximum flexibility for placement of individual light fixtures, many sets of low voltage lights include pin connectors. The pin connectors may be placed at selected locations along the power cord. Such pin connectors include a split housing. Inside the split housing are pins which are connected to the electrical leads for each light source. The power cord is placed within the split housing when the split housing is open at the location along the power cord where the light fixture is to be placed. The split housing is then closed and the pins within the split housing are used to pierce the insulation on the power cord to make an electrical connection with the metal wires located under the insulation within the power cord.
Those who have attempted to set up an outdoor lighting system using pin connectors with a split housing have often experienced the frustration of not making the desired electrical connection between the pin and the metal wires after the split housing has been closed around the power cord. In such cases, it is necessary to re-open the split connector and attempt to create another piercing of the insulation portion of the power cord with the pins located inside the pin connector. Since the insulation around the power cord is generally not self sealing, a small opening will be left in the insulation by the prior failed attempt to make an electrical connection. Such small opening in the insulation is potentially dangerous if the light fixture and power cord are placed in moist soil.
Even if a successful electrical connection is made by the second piercing of the insulation with the pins inside the pin connector, the electrical connector is not sealed and remains open to the corrosive effects of moisture and the chemicals in the soil. Thus some home owners have found that while the lighting system using pin connectors may operate properly for several months, it will fail prematurely because of corroded wires within the power cord.
Some home owners have experienced the frustration of having one outdoor fixture in a string of outdoor fixtures fail. The solution is to remove the failed light fixture and replace it with another light fixture. However, replacing a light fixture using prior art pin connectors leaves more holes in the insulation and a greater chance for moisture and the corrosive elements contained within the soil to attack the metal wires in the power cord.
Yet other homeowners desire to change out the styles of light fixtures being used. Such change requires removing the old light fixtures and replacing them with new ones. As in the previous situation, changing out styles of light fixtures may eventually destroy the insulation around the power cord and cause corrosion of the metal wires within the power cord.
Accordingly, there remains a need in the art for a more secure connection system that is usable with outdoor lighting systems used along walkways, driveways, flower beds, patios and the like which provides for rapid, secure connection between light fixtures.